Thoughts on the Colts game (Jimmy Raye, Alex Smith, yada yada)

Okay, tough loss but going into this game I was just kinda hoping we did not get blown out and if you told me we'd turn the ball over two times and the Colts don't turn it over once, I would say we'd probably lose by 3 touchdowns. Instead we gave them a heck of a game, nothing to be ashamed off. Singletary had these guys ready to play and Manusky put together a great gameplan against Peyton Manning who clearly was confused and frustrated. The defense played really well, they played their hearts out and you couldn't expect more out of them. BTW, boy was I wrong, Nate Clements did get demoted (at least for this game) and of course he may be done for th season.

On offense, I thought losing Joe Staley on the 1st play of the game would spell disaster but Sims played okay. Okay lets get to Jimmy Raye, people are complaining he was to conservative and did not spread it out enough, look I was not happy when we hired Raye and I haven't certainly been impressed with him as our OC so far this season but I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt today that he had to keep guys and a go to some bunch formations as he would spread it out as much as we or he would like, Sims and Snyder would be totally exposed. I think he needed to keep the formations a little more tight and bunched otherwise I think Sims and Snyder would have struggled more. That is just my opinion. I know Alex Smith and the offense looked great on that 92 yard drive late in the 1st half and we had them spread out a bit and we went to a hurry up (I do think we should go hurry up a bit more) but you see what happens when it is 3rd and long and Snyder and Sims are left one on one against Freeney and Mathis, they get beat bad! Also the bottom line is I doubt Singletary wants us to spread it out and throw it as much as some of us would like so again, I can't really blame Raye. Also, this O-Line just sucks. They cannot run block for sh!t.

Some thoughts on individual players:

Alex Smith: I had faith in Alex going into this game but I was hoping he would not bomb and he did not. He played well, he looked great on that 92yard drive and for the most part he played a really nice game, esspecially when you consider he did not have much of a running game. The difference in Alex's play now is when things break down he does not put his head down and roll out to the right side and throw the ball away. Now he can improvise when the pockets breaks down and I think he sees the whole field. He also a heck of an arm and release! I think he will be fine.

Michael Crabtree: Dropped one but had 6 catches for 81yds and made some big catches on 3rd downs. He is a player, we know that. I do wish we would have thrown him the ball a bit more down the field going up against the Colts rookie corner(s).

Issac Bruce: He sucks! He dropped one easy ball on a 3rd down that would have gotten a 1st down. Made no effort on another ball that was thrown behind him but was catchable and on Crabtree's fumble he made no effort to get the ball as he just stood up and watched. Get him off the field, he is washed up and I don't think he even wants to be out there.

Frank Gore: He is great, even with no running room he finds a way to get close to 100 rushing yards and he made two nice catches that should of went for a yard or two and he got 8 or 9 on each of them. Plus you can't say enough about how good of a blocker he is and protecting the QB. I just hope we are not wasting his good years with the s**tty O-line we have in front of him.

Justin Smith: He needs to be in the pro bowl.

Interior D-Line: Ray McDonald, Soaps, Franklin, these guys played really well.

Parys Haralson: Once again did nothing, he is a backup.

Patrick Willis: Back in form!

Dashon Goldson: Played really well, was all over the field and seemed to do a good job calling the plays. You can tell he is becoming the defensive leader the way he is communicating with the defensive players and getting them motivated.

Tarrell Brown: Solid game!

Punt Return posistion: Clements was doing a nice job but of course he got hut and while I wanted Brandon Jones back there and he got in there to replace Clements, man oh man fielding the ball at the 2 or 3 yard line...Are you kidding me? Can't really blame him though as I don't know how much work/practice has gotten at punt returner this week or the whole season.

Coverage units: Michael Robinson and Marcus Hudson are as good as it gets for cover guys on ST's.


Okay so moving forward, tough loss, I thought we outplayed the Colts and man if we could of won today we would be tied with Arizona for 1st place. I think losing Nate Clements is going to be big. I personally thought he had been playing well and now we are thin at corner and Tarrell Brown and Shawntae Spencer are two guys who have struggled staying healthy in the past. Plus Clements was our most physical corner and we will miss him when we play teams like Arizona. I am encouraged, I think Alex Smith is finally/has become the QB we thought he would be and he has some great young weapons in Crabtree and Vernon Davis (we need to get Morgan out there more and Bruce less). The question moving forward is can Jimmy Raye be creative enough with these guys or is he being held back Singletary and/or a crappy offensive line? Man if we can get this O-Line fixed next year, I think this offense can be really, really good. Provided they are given the oppurtunity to make plays.

The defense is fine, yes we lack a big time pass rusher but I think that is really the only big hole on the team, yeah we could use another safety but I think Curtis Taylor or Reggie Smith (if he can ever stay healthy) can be players next year. If this defense gets a top notch or even a very good pass rusher, it's going to be a scary defense! That being said, I don't know, I think losing Clements is going to hurt us. He was generally matched up against the opponents top WR's and he had the swagger and confidence to do and generally he played very well against top flight WR's (he struggled against lesser WR's).

Thats all I got for right now

I don't think Norv Turner will survive another season as Chargers head coach but I don't think Singletary will fire Raye after this season and im not so sure Norv would even take the 49ers OC job if it was offered.

Thank you for the feedback. How did the linebackers play? How was Lawson? Did Briggs and Brooks get on the field and how did they do?

Originally posted by Ninefan56:
Thank you for the feedback. How did the linebackers play? How was Lawson? Did Briggs and Brooks get on the field and how did they do?

Lawson was solid as usual. The things he does do not show up on the box score but he does a great job of taking up passing lanes in pass coverage and he plays the run really well as he does a tremendous job of holding his ground. He isn't much of a pass rusher but that is okay, Haralson is the guy that is asked to rush the passer and he is simply not doing the job. I didn't see Ahmad Brooks out there today either and I thought he had been playing well the last few games (about 10 snaps a game). I don't think Briggs was active but I think he needs to be as even though he needs to get bigger and is raw, I think he is our most natural pass rusher and he just has a knack of getting to the QB (I know it was against 2nd and 3rd stringers in the pre-season but some guys just look like players and he is one of those guys).

Originally posted by PatrickJira411:
I don't think Norv Turner will survive another season as Chargers head coach but I don't think Singletary will fire Raye after this season and im not so sure Norv would even take the 49ers OC job if it was offered.

The QB coach is going to be our next OC, that's why he was brought here to establish continuity for the team going forward.

Originally posted by sincalniner:

Originally posted by PatrickJira411:
I don't think Norv Turner will survive another season as Chargers head coach but I don't think Singletary will fire Raye after this season and im not so sure Norv would even take the 49ers OC job if it was offered.

The QB coach is going to be our next OC, that's why he was brought here to establish continuity for the team going forward.

Well im sure Raye will be back next year but if this team does not make the playoffs in 2010, I think Jed may put some pressure on Sing to get rid of Raye and hire a better OC (with experince) so that wouldn't be Mike Johnson. I think in a perfect world Singletary wants to replace Raye maybe in 2011 with Mike Johnson but this team has to be successful in order for Sing to get his wish because he may not be able to pick his OC and or he may be gone if this team is not a playoff team next year.

I think the play-calling cost us the game. Sure, the tackles needed protection, but then there is no excuse for the predictable play calls. The second half drove me nuts.

The O-Line can't run block. That's evident to everyone. So, please anyone, why do we call two run plays and then face 3rd and 7 or 8? And expect the QB to bail us out? That's retarded! QBs need to throw to get into rhythm. It does not take a rocket scientist to explain why the 9ers have the most 3 and outs in NFL.

Passing only when behind is driving me insane. It's almost like we're apologetic for taking the lead. And we keep running till the 3 and outs allow the opposition offense to get into rhythm and score some points! Or even in the worst case, get better field position. WTF!! And then we try to play catchup. This is as much of a joke a Nolan's on-side kicks to show aggressiveness.

If we had opened up the O and, shudder, scored another TD, then maybe Peyton would have gotten more desperate and thrown some picks. Add to that the whole punt return drama. Why the f*** would you risk injuring your top CB? Sure, hind-sight is 20-20, but another truly wtf decision. This stone age coaching staff will be the reason my TV gets viciously attacked one of these days.

[ Edited by ninerball on Nov 1, 2009 at 19:51:40 ]

I will also say that if we could run the ball that would make things that much easier for Raye and make him look smarter and I think next year we will have some guys in there who can actually run block.


Like it or not we will try to run the ball even if we can't, Singletary will demand it.

Originally posted by PatrickJira411:
Okay, tough loss but going into this game I was just kinda hoping we did not get blown out and if you told me we'd turn the ball over two times and the Colts don't turn it over once, I would say we'd probably lose by 3 touchdowns. Instead we gave them a heck of a game, nothing to be ashamed off. Singletary had these guys ready to play and Manusky put together a great gameplan against Peyton Manning who clearly was confused and frustrated. The defense played really well, they played their hearts out and you couldn't expect more out of them. BTW, boy was I wrong, Nate Clements did get demoted (at least for this game) and of course he may be done for th season.

On offense, I thought losing Joe Staley on the 1st play of the game would spell disaster but Sims played okay. Okay lets get to Jimmy Raye, people are complaining he was to conservative and did not spread it out enough, look I was not happy when we hired Raye and I haven't certainly been impressed with him as our OC so far this season but I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt today that he had to keep guys and a go to some bunch formations as he would spread it out as much as we or he would like, Sims and Snyder would be totally exposed. I think he needed to keep the formations a little more tight and bunched otherwise I think Sims and Snyder would have struggled more. That is just my opinion. I know Alex Smith and the offense looked great on that 92 yard drive late in the 1st half and we had them spread out a bit and we went to a hurry up (I do think we should go hurry up a bit more) but you see what happens when it is 3rd and long and Snyder and Sims are left one on one against Freeney and Mathis, they get beat bad! Also the bottom line is I doubt Singletary wants us to spread it out and throw it as much as some of us would like so again, I can't really blame Raye. Also, this O-Line just sucks. They cannot run block for sh!t.

Some thoughts on individual players:

Alex Smith: I had faith in Alex going into this game but I was hoping he would not bomb and he did not. He played well, he looked great on that 92yard drive and for the most part he played a really nice game, esspecially when you consider he did not have much of a running game. The difference in Alex's play now is when things break down he does not put his head down and roll out to the right side and throw the ball away. Now he can improvise when the pockets breaks down and I think he sees the whole field. He also a heck of an arm and release! I think he will be fine.

Michael Crabtree: Dropped one but had 6 catches for 81yds and made some big catches on 3rd downs. He is a player, we know that. I do wish we would have thrown him the ball a bit more down the field going up against the Colts rookie corner(s).

Issac Bruce: He sucks! He dropped one easy ball on a 3rd down that would have gotten a 1st down. Made no effort on another ball that was thrown behind him but was catchable and on Crabtree's fumble he made no effort to get the ball as he just stood up and watched. Get him off the field, he is washed up and I don't think he even wants to be out there.

Frank Gore: He is great, even with no running room he finds a way to get close to 100 rushing yards and he made two nice catches that should of went for a yard or two and he got 8 or 9 on each of them. Plus you can't say enough about how good of a blocker he is and protecting the QB. I just hope we are not wasting his good years with the s**tty O-line we have in front of him.

Justin Smith: He needs to be in the pro bowl.

Interior D-Line: Ray McDonald, Soaps, Franklin, these guys played really well.

Parys Haralson: Once again did nothing, he is a backup.

Patrick Willis: Back in form!

Dashon Goldson: Played really well, was all over the field and seemed to do a good job calling the plays. You can tell he is becoming the defensive leader the way he is communicating with the defensive players and getting them motivated.

Tarrell Brown: Solid game!

Punt Return posistion: Clements was doing a nice job but of course he got hut and while I wanted Brandon Jones back there and he got in there to replace Clements, man oh man fielding the ball at the 2 or 3 yard line...Are you kidding me? Can't really blame him though as I don't know how much work/practice has gotten at punt returner this week or the whole season.

Coverage units: Michael Robinson and Marcus Hudson are as good as it gets for cover guys on ST's.


Okay so moving forward, tough loss, I thought we outplayed the Colts and man if we could of won today we would be tied with Arizona for 1st place. I think losing Nate Clements is going to be big. I personally thought he had been playing well and now we are thin at corner and Tarrell Brown and Shawntae Spencer are two guys who have struggled staying healthy in the past. Plus Clements was our most physical corner and we will miss him when we play teams like Arizona. I am encouraged, I think Alex Smith is finally/has become the QB we thought he would be and he has some great young weapons in Crabtree and Vernon Davis (we need to get Morgan out there more and Bruce less). The question moving forward is can Jimmy Raye be creative enough with these guys or is he being held back Singletary and/or a crappy offensive line? Man if we can get this O-Line fixed next year, I think this offense can be really, really good. Provided they are given the oppurtunity to make plays.

The defense is fine, yes we lack a big time pass rusher but I think that is really the only big hole on the team, yeah we could use another safety but I think Curtis Taylor or Reggie Smith (if he can ever stay healthy) can be players next year. If this defense gets a top notch or even a very good pass rusher, it's going to be a scary defense! That being said, I don't know, I think losing Clements is going to hurt us. He was generally matched up against the opponents top WR's and he had the swagger and confidence to do and generally he played very well against top flight WR's (he struggled against lesser WR's).

Thats all I got for right now

Very good post. Singletary needs to get this team going in this stretch of games. We are not that far off.

It's a shame Reggie Smith is not healthy because he could get some valuable snaps as our 6th DB now that Clements is out. I'd rather see Marcus Hudson as our 6th DB than Mark Roman but I doubt that will happen.

Alex played great and the Niners played great. We just didn't finish. We hung with the Colts the whole game, after losing our best lineman on the first play of the game and we lost clements in the second half. (When did clements go out by the way.) Yes we lost, but the defense played great and the offense was moving the ball take away the turnovers and we score more points.

The differences in the game

David Baas getting a BS holding call after a Vernon Davis touchdown. This was not his fault horrible, horrible call.

Spencer biting on the fake run and giving up a touchdown. This was a game changer, but you can't fault him because he played a fantastic game. You are going to get beat sometimes.

Sopoaga's offsides penalty which could have gone either way. This gave the colts a 1st down. (I admit they may have gotten it, but you can't give Peyton free 1st downs.)

Crabtree's fumble and Tip which caused the interception.....these were killers in the game, but he's a rookie and he will learn. He doesn't look like a rookie out there.

The delay of game penalty in the most critical drive of the game. This cost us big time and knocked us out of field goal range and killed our drive. They have to get the plays in faster. This was a lot better than last week.

The Positives

Our defense played fantastic.....we shut down the colts and kept the game close and we got pressure on Peyton.

Our Db's played great today.

Alex Smith is looking like a keeper. Yes he had a couple of bad throws but he did great.

Thank you for the positive post.....so many people on the zone are such babies. We played a great game. Yes I wanted a win too, but we made too many little mistakes to win but we keep moving forward as a team.

____

[ Edited by PatrickJira411 on Nov 1, 2009 at 20:41:11 ]

Originally posted by Oldschool9erfan:
Alex played great and the Niners played great. We just didn't finish. We hung with the Colts the whole game, after losing our best lineman on the first play of the game and we lost clements in the second half. (When did clements go out by the way.) Yes we lost, but the defense played great and the offense was moving the ball take away the turnovers and we score more points.

The differences in the game

David Baas getting a BS holding call after a Vernon Davis touchdown. This was not his fault horrible, horrible call.

Spencer biting on the fake run and giving up a touchdown. This was a game changer, but you can't fault him because he played a fantastic game. You are going to get beat sometimes.

Sopoaga's offsides penalty which could have gone either way. This gave the colts a 1st down. (I admit they may have gotten it, but you can't give Peyton free 1st downs.)

Crabtree's fumble and Tip which caused the interception.....these were killers in the game, but he's a rookie and he will learn. He doesn't look like a rookie out there.

The delay of game penalty in the most critical drive of the game. This cost us big time and knocked us out of field goal range and killed our drive. They have to get the plays in faster. This was a lot better than last week.

The Positives

Our defense played fantastic.....we shut down the colts and kept the game close and we got pressure on Peyton.

Our Db's played great today.

Alex Smith is looking like a keeper. Yes he had a couple of bad throws but he did great.

Thank you for the positive post.....so many people on the zone are such babies. We played a great game. Yes I wanted a win too, but we made too many little mistakes to win but we keep moving forward as a team.

Good post, but Baas didn't get called for holding on the Vernon Davis touchdown, it was on a first down that Vernon Davis caught, but not the touchdown (there was no penalty)

Originally posted by PatrickJira411:

Originally posted by Oldschool9erfan:
Alex played great and the Niners played great. We just didn't finish. We hung with the Colts the whole game, after losing our best lineman on the first play of the game and we lost clements in the second half. (When did clements go out by the way.) Yes we lost, but the defense played great and the offense was moving the ball take away the turnovers and we score more points.

The differences in the game

David Baas getting a BS holding call after a Vernon Davis touchdown. This was not his fault horrible, horrible call.

Spencer biting on the fake run and giving up a touchdown. This was a game changer, but you can't fault him because he played a fantastic game. You are going to get beat sometimes.

Sopoaga's offsides penalty which could have gone either way. This gave the colts a 1st down. (I admit they may have gotten it, but you can't give Peyton free 1st downs.)

Crabtree's fumble and Tip which caused the interception.....these were killers in the game, but he's a rookie and he will learn. He doesn't look like a rookie out there.

The delay of game penalty in the most critical drive of the game. This cost us big time and knocked us out of field goal range and killed our drive. They have to get the plays in faster. This was a lot better than last week.

The Positives

Our defense played fantastic.....we shut down the colts and kept the game close and we got pressure on Peyton.

Our Db's played great today.

Alex Smith is looking like a keeper. Yes he had a couple of bad throws but he did great.

Thank you for the positive post.....so many people on the zone are such babies. We played a great game. Yes I wanted a win too, but we made too many little mistakes to win but we keep moving forward as a team.

Good post, but Baas didn't get called for holding on the Vernon Davis touchdown, it was on a first down that Vernon Davis caught, but not the touchdown (there was no penalty)

That was a phantom call. Other than that penalty, I thought the refs did good for once. Fair and correct.

If Raye doesen't open it up a bit more and get more creative once Staley comes back, than we can say Jimmy Raye is the problem.